mass action handbook
getting your community on the road and into the street

trip logistics

there are a lot
of things to consider before just taking off for an action. when you are at
an action the stress levels are already high, but if you take care of some
of these things before you leave your hometown, you will find that you can
focus on why you are at the action.

there are lots of tasks that need
to be done just to make the trip possible. but they don't have to be done
by the same activists who are going on the trip. these activities are opportunities
for activists who don't want to or can't go on the trip to have important
roles. as you plan each of these activities, think about folks who may need
to be at home with children, who can't get off from work, elders, people who
are injured or ill... these people may have just the kind of time and resources
to do important at home tasks, such as telephoning, media analysis & outreach,
research, etc.

we usually divide
into working groups (same as the categories below) to handle a lot of the
standard logistics. each of these groups refers regularly
to the websites of those bodies organizing the mobilization. some of these
websites are listed on the introduction page.

are you panicking already? do you have very little
time or very few people. read just the essentials!

we've separated out some
other crucial logistics activities onto their own pages:

teach-in:
one of the most important aspects of any action is community education.
having a teach-in a couple of weeks before a major action works in solidarity
to maximize the social impact. organizing a teach-in is cheap and easy.

don't
forget outreach!
before you go and while you're there (art, fliers) and when you get back!

plan
a local
solidarity action:
one of the forms that growing international solidarity takes
is the simultaneous, coordinated manifestation of our resistance.
it's great to do a local action simultaneous with the faraway
day of action.

who?/when?/transportation/communications
equipment: commitment...sometimes
we have such a hard time with it. this working group functions to get people
to commit on some level to going to the action. it's best of the who/when
people are the same as the transportation team so they can match up spots
in cars with numbers of people. since this working group has the difficult
job of scheduling, our community often allows this group a lot of authority
in making recommendations and decisions. it's best if one or two people are
contact folks for people who want to go. they keep track of:

email &
phone numbers of everyone who might go

departure
and return timing needs

available
vehicles

available cell phones and
radios

our group has rarely used
airplanes to get to an action because it raises the costs beyond most
people's reach. we drive all night cramped into cars and by the time
we get there, we've gotten to know each other, are comfortable in close
proximity with one another, and most importantly, we've learned to laugh
at ourselves and each other already.

when recruiting vehicles,
here are some things to keep in mind: is the vehicle owner ok with other
people driving the car? (they need to be) if
the car breaks down, how will repair be paid for? (split between owner
and users?) who will
be responsible for parking tickets?

it's best to think of the
vehicle pool separate from the drivers, and to encourage the car owners
to see them likewise. they may not always be in their own car.

sometimes cars can be rented
very cheaply, and this provides more reliable vehicles. however, there
are some other drawbacks to rental cars, such as that drivers must 25,
adding extra drivers (even over 25) results in rapidly increased costs,
and renting requires use of a credit card which puts a lot of liability
on to that person. while it's very hard to think through how your group
might handle thousands of dollars of liability charges, you might at
least try to get a sense if people in the group will share responsibility
in case of a problem.

housing:
when a call to action goes out, the hope is to get people to travel to a
destination in order to parcipate in the actions. generally, there will
be people who are willing to put travelers up while they are in the cities
for the protest.

begin
by talking to the people in your community. does anyone have friends
or family there in the location of the action? would they be willing
to put up a few people for a few days?

if that
doesn't work, check the host city organizing website. a great source
of information, this website probably has a section for housing,
or even an on-line form you can fill out to request housing.

if none
of this works, you can try hostels, motels, etc.

depending
on where the protest is being held, you can likely find a campsite
where your affinity group can pitch a tent.

staying
at someone's home provides the opportunity to develop the world
you want to see. do something wonderful for the person kind enough
to put you up. cook them dinner, clean their bathroom before you
leave, bring your own toilet paper.....these little things can go
a long way...

navigation & maps:
two kinds (generally both of these can be put into the trip info packet (see
below), that way everyone will have easy access to this information)

getting
there: does everyone
who is going have the knowledge of how to get there and does every
vehicle going have the maps to get there? someone who has AAA road
service, can get for free 3 of each map they need. states AND the
city you're going to! be sure to have good directions to the place
you're staying at.

getting
around: the importance of carrying a map at all times and actually
studying it before you go cannot be overstated. it will save a ton
of stress if everyone has knowledge of the city and where in the city
you will be protesting before they get there. there are important
markers to put on this map such as: the imc, your housing location,
the convergance/welcome center, bus/train locations. some of this
may not happen until you get there, but to have your bearings in the
city is a wonderful way of making you feel comfortable and effective

trainings:
generally before we go we try to host a series of trainings. these have the
result of constantly increasing the skills of our community, among activists
who are going to the action and those who are staying home alike. here are
some of the trainings (click the topic for more infomore information about
out how to host these):

if you manage to arrive a
few days before actions start, there are almost always these trainings
and more held repeatedly in the days leading up. check the organizing
website before you get there and the convergence/welcome center when
you get there for more information on times and locations of trainings.

fundraising/fund-abating:
our very best fundraising strategy is to avoid spending. using borrowed or
rented cars and staying in houses, we have been able to do these trips for
$100 or less per person. in order to subsidize the costs to make it more affordable,
we've raised most of our money just passing the hat at teach-ins,
other educational outreach, and report-backs after the event. we also approach
local people who support us and they pretty regularly give $25 or $50. then
we divide this money evenly among everyone who wants some subsidy. another
way to raise money pretty quickly is to have a great party and ask everybody
to pay $5 at the door towards this important activist endeavor. (make sure
you don't spend much on the party!) the global
fund for women has some good ideas for small-scale fundraising.

Often the most grueling part of
planning any action is raising money. Whether you are sending 15 people to
a mass acton in another state, planning a local action, creating handouts,
or any other action all take money. The scale of the activity (renting a van
to get people to a mass action vs. printing handouts to advertise your event)
will determine how much money you will need, and of course how much money
you need wll determine which strategy you will use to get money.

There are a lot of ways to get
money. The easiest way is to throw a party and invite all of your friends.
IF each person kicks a couple of bucks, you can raise some money. Be forwarned
that not everyone will contribute and they will still drink your booze (it
is a party after all), so it is important to do a cost benefit analysis. If
you spend 80 bucks on booze and only make 85 dollars, you had a great party,
but not a great fundraising event.

Another simple way to raise money
is to throw a benefit show. Benefit shows are great because they can cover
a wide range of media. Activists always seem to have friends in bands, friends
who make movies, friends who write poetry, and friends who different all kinds
of different art. Often these friends do not have any money to contribute,
but their talents go a long way in helping an organization raise money. Find
a venue that can host these talented people, organize the talent, and then
the work begins. Advertising is the key to making money at benefit shows.
If people do not know about your event , they cannot support you. Organize
your community to pass out handbllls, put posters up around your city, do
whatever you think will draw attention to your event. Benefit shows are also
good because they allow your organization and other organizations a place
to table. For this reason, benefit shows can be educational as well.

If you are a student or have students
that you work with, sympathetic professors often are more than wiling to offer
some financial support. One way to garner this support is to write a letter
explaining what you are doing and why your organization thinks it is important
to get people involved. We have found that the KISS rule applies to these
letters (keep it simple stupid). A letter that is too long will lose the professors
attention and potentially you some money. Handing the letter directly to the
professor and explaining it will allow them to ask questions and hash out
details that may be important to them. The letter serves more as reminder.
THis strategy is useful because it often builds connections with professors
that you may not normally work with. Professors are of course a great source
of information, which makes them wonderful allies.

Being part of a student organization
allows you to ask your university for money. This is a tricky process, and
therefore it is important that you understand how your university works. But
do keep it in mind as a resource for money. This applies to other groups that
organize in your community as well.

Being arty is a really useful skill
when it comes to raising money. If you know how to silk-screen, you can make
shirts and sell them at you benefit show or elsewhere. If you can knit really
well, you could make a bunch of scarves that have your message on them. If
you can draw, make stickers and sell them. Use whatever skills you have, being
creative makes the arduous task of raising money a little more entertaining.

trip
info packet: this has
become one of our favorite tools. this working group is responsible for putting
together a packet of information for everyone who is going. This is so important
that we created a whole trip info packet page to
guide you in making these.